After its first two successful expeditions to the Northern Cape and Free State, the third leg of our Blank Canvas Express roadshow is now headed to Richmond and De Aar. This leg of the tour will see members of our team, along with arts practitioners from our community, engaging with communities in the Northern Cape through a series of photographic exhibitions, presentations and workshops – and also participating in a town parade, thanks to funding from the National Lotteries Commission.
Round 1: Richmond 24th – 27th October
The first leg of this round in Richmond, Northern Cape will see photographer Simon O’Callaghan’s book, Burn – Into The Flames of Burning Art, entered into the South African Independent Publishers Awards (24 – 27 Oct) at BookTown, with Simon and AfrikaBurn co-founder Monique Schiess presenting a talk along with Lorraine Tanner, Blank Canvas Express co-ordinator.
After the presentation, the team will host an informal fireside get-together along with artists Yandiswa Mazwana and Monique Fagan (of Coming Home, and eMzantsi Carnival fame) at MAP Gallery after dinner, with anyone welcome to come along and bring a story, poem, song or instrument. Mazwana and Fagan will be training and working with local adults and youth from Hope in South Africa’s Grassroots Centre, to turn thousands of plastic bottles saved locally from landfill into a field of flowers art installation on Thursday 25, Friday 26 and Saturday 27 October – and also hosting a mask-making workshop after school, ahead of the town parade on the Saturday afternoon.
In line with the Publishers Awards, an exhibition of O’Callaghan’s large-format prints will be on display at MAP Gallery, from 24 October until the end of November. Prints from this beautiful photographic coffee table book feature a variety of portraits and landscape shots, including Northern Cape artist Nathan Victor Honey from the Sutherland Kuns Ontwikkelings Projek.
Round 2: De Aar 29th – 31st October
Following on the installation and display of the artwork Coming Home – an artwork that incorporated the use of languages, colloquialisms and multigenerational slang words – at AfrikaBurn 2018, Yandiswa Mazwana and Monique Fagan (both of whom have a family connection to De Aar) will continue the artwork’s journey after part of the artwork, dubbed The Unsafe Journey, a suitcase containing rites of passage and a book of shadow stories, went missing.
The process of The Unsafe Journey is being started over when they are hosted by Karoo artist Katie du Toit at Khazimla Centre of Excellence in De Aar, at which they will co-create an intercultural crafting project involving local women. Using personal stories, including shadow tales, they will create rag dolls and invocations, prayers and wishes for the younger generation to help guide them.
Anyone wanting more info about the events is welcome to email [email protected]
Further info:
Lorraine Tanner – [email protected]
Blank Canvas Express Facebook page can be found here.
